NCJ Number
182768
Date Published
1999
Length
161 pages
Annotation
Data from a survey of 800 police officers in a municipal police agency in a southern State formed the basis of an analysis of leadership effectiveness in community policing, using components of behavior, contingency, and cognitive resources theories.
Abstract
The research used three broad classifications of leadership: (1) leadership as aspects of individual leaders (great men and trait theories), (2) leadership as a function of the group (behavior theories), and leadership as a function of the situation (situational theories). The dependent variable was leadership effectiveness; the independent variables were leadership style, experience, technical expertise, stress, group support, and task complexity. Results of correlation and regression analysis revealed that perceptions of the democratic leader with technical expertise are positively related to leadership effectiveness, when group support is present and task complexity is not present. The leader’s experience and the stress of the situation were not significantly related to perceptions of leadership effectiveness. Tables, chapter notes, appended instrument and list of frequencies, and 190 references